The Tesseract's Legacy
by BlazingStarInInkyBlackness
Summary: Loki has left Midgard but scars are left behind. The worst scars are in Clint Barton. He still sees targets to kill but one keeps on coming back; a woman with red hair and an all too familiar face.


Clint sat on the top of the Stark tower surveying the world below him. The wind blew past him and below him the city trundled on. He heard it all as he had been trained to. A bow was lying next to him, abandoned. In his hand he twirled a knife between two hands, its edges were razor sharp but he ignored this and kept on turning. The tower below him was empty as the team of superheroes had long since left to save the world. Clint was left behind, not trusted enough to fight evil alongside them. So he was left to think over the turning of the world and sort out the mess that was his mind.

An assassin's mind is never a safe or normal place; Clint had never been an exception. But now his mind twisted itself into knots and twined itself into a fever from which he could hardly escape. Huge areas of his brain had been consumed by blue vapours left over by the mad alien who descended from the sky. Below Clint was the spot where the Tesseract had opened the portal. All physical traces had been removed; his cuts had healed, New York had been rebuilt and the alien corpses had been cleared. But still the mental scars remained. Every night he was woken by nightmares of blue and gold, he saw the faces of the people he'd killed and he was seeing the person he had to kill. However much he tried to ignore it the blue was still in his head. His eyes were turning bluer and bluer by the day and one face was filling his head.

He knew the face, he had traced every facet of it and it was the one face he thought that he could watch grow older and older. He wanted to see it grow older. He wanted the red hair to lose its fire slowly and turn to grey and then snow white. He wanted to see the skin crinkle into familiar shapes. He wanted to see the face soften and relax and he wanted to protect her until she died peacefully. However, he was a soldier first. He was an assassin. He was a murderer. With that thought blue misted over his eyes and they appeared to glow. He saw, many floors below, a woman clad in black with red hair flowing behind her enter the tower.

He climbed down the tower and entered into a living room. He stood in the middle of the room silently counting the seconds until Natasha would enter the room.

"Agent, The Black Widow is approaching" Clint nodded and opened his eyes just as Natasha entered the room. She held back, noticing something was wrong. Part of Clint's mind screamed at him to stop. She looked beautiful as she stood there, the light from the elevator shone onto her hair and it looked as if she was on fire. Half of her face was darkened and the other half was swathed in the light.

"Clint, are you okay? What happened?" in one smooth movement Clint notched an arrow to his bow and shot it at her heart. She leapt out of the way just in time, the arrow just grazing her arm. She leapt towards him and kicked him behind the knee just as he notched another arrow. She hit the bow so the arrow shot off into the ceiling. Growling, Clint pulled out his knife and pulled his arm backwards. Natasha saw the knife just in time and flipped her own out and blocked the knife above her head. With her legs she took him to the ground and with her free arm pushed down on his shoulder, trying to push him into the ground. He fought back and yelled, the knives still caught between the two of them. Clint tried to leap forward and the knives above them slipped, Natasha noticed in time to deflect his onto the floor but his knife embedded itself into her shoulder. She did not seem to notice as she pulled it out and flung it away. Now they were on the floor, fighting for dominance.

Blood ran over the floor or the tower, soaking the carpet and staining the floor. The two of them continued to fight until Natasha was pushed against the wall and couldn't fight back. Her face had turned white from the blood loss but Clint still looked for how to kill her. It had run through his mind for months now; how to kill his target. He reached into Natasha's belt and pulled out her gun. He levelled it at her face, ready to take the shot he should have done years ago. Inside his head the part of his mind not controlled by the Tesseract screamed at him to stop but he paid it no heed. He stared into her face as his finger tightened on the trigger.

At the last second Natasha kicked forwards, her gun jumping out of Clint's hand. He glanced to see where it would land and so couldn't react as Natasha leapt on him. She pinned him against the wall with what little strength she had.

"Clint, I know you're there. Please, you can fight this" the blue coated area of his brain told him to punch her, to hit until she could no longer defend and then finish the job. However the untainted area of his brain called for him to hold her in his arms and calm her. The parts fought until Clint found himself clutching onto Natasha, unsure if he was about to kill or coddle her. She gazed up at him, no fear in her eyes. All spies knew death; Natasha and Clint knew it far better than others though. It had gotten to the point where they were no longer afraid of dying, only of leaving the other. Natasha reached up to touch his face tenderly. "It wasn't your fault"

In the end that was all it took. Her eyes closed slowly and the pain and anger that ran through his body vanished in a moment. Suddenly all that mattered was that the love of his life was dying in his grasp.

"Natasha, Natasha!" Clint yelled this inside his own head, trapped beneath the blue. Suddenly it broke and the last remnants of blue vanished from his head. He was left sat alone in a room with the love of his life bleeding out because of him. He clutched her and sobbed on and on. He remembered every person he had betrayed, every person he had killed. Pictures of his family popped into his head; Barney who he had killed, his father who Clint hadn't seen for years and Coulson who had been more of a family than his real one. Everyone died near him. Natasha had protected him for so long and now there she lay. He steadied himself to carry her as far as he could make it. From behind him he heard a voice.

"Step away from her Barton" Clint froze, knowing the voice as a man long since dead. He squeezed his eyes shut and did not turn, this had to be one of his nightmares. "Agent, I shall not hesitate to shoot" Clint slowly turned to come face to face with none other than Phil Coulson looking good for a man who had died. Coulson had his gun trained on Clint's head but Clint couldn't bring himself to care.

"You're not real. None of this is real. It's all a dream"

"Agent, release Natasha and step over there"

"You're not real. You're not real" Clint repeated this as he continued to cross the room and entered the elevator. Coulson placed his finger on the trigger, knowing he should blow Clint's brain out but he couldn't. That kid was his son, emotionally if not genetically.

"Damn it." He pressed his finger to his ear, activating the speaker "Natasha is down, I repeat Natasha is down. Clint appears to have stabbed her and he is now approaching the bottom floor." Coulson heard Tony Stark's familiar voice over the speaker

"We've surrounded the tower. Should we attack?"

"No, let me talk to Clint first. He isn't himself." Coulson heard an affirmative over the earpiece and in a hot he was off. He ran to the window and jumped a floor, rolling with the impact. He leapt up and ran down the stairs taking them three at a time. Next to him the elevator dinged as it got closer and closer to the bottom floor. Jarvis had been asked to slow it down but not to stop it because that would arise Clint's suspicion. Coulson finally reached the bottom floor just as Clint exited.

"Agent, halt!" Clint turned slowly and Phil saw how empty his eyes were. Clint's clothes were bathed in blood and it was spread across his face. "Give me The Black Widow and I can get her to safety." Clint looked between the two of them, hardly perceiving what was going on. Even though his mind was cleared of blue it was still clouded by the shock of what he had done. "Clint, this is not a dream. If you o not give me Natasha she will die and I won't be able to protect you." Clint looked between Natasha and Coulson. If this was a dream then surely this was a test. But how could he beat this test? Should he give up his love to ave her or would he be abandoning her?

In the end Natasha decided for him. She stirred slightly in his arms, her green eyes opening just enough to see CLINT ABOVE HER. He knew that no matter in death or life, he could trust Coulson.

"Please, look after her" with that he placed Natasha on the ground nd stepped away. Coulson breathed a sigh of relief as he strode over and handcuffed Clint's hands together.

"You've made the right choice Clint" with that Coulson punched Clint in the face and he blacked out instantly.

The next time Clint woke up he was alone in a room. All around the walls there were security cameras and windows. A dread grew in Clint's stomach as he realised where he was; the mental ward of the SHIELD heli-carrier. This was were washed up agents went when they had finally outlived their use. He looked to his wrists and saw the normal cuffs that ensnared the agents who ended up in here. Over the speakers Nick Fury's voice emerged

"Agent Clint Barton, do you know where you are?"

"Yes" Clint's voice shook slightly as he said this, the fear of this room permeating his normally perfect poker face.

"Do you remember what you did to end up in here?"

"Yes"

"You shall be brought before a council to determine if you are in need of punishment or time off to recuperate."

"Nick"

"Yes?" Nick's voice was softer now; he cared for Clint more than he should

"Where is Natasha?"

"I am not allowed to tell you her position until the trial tomorrow. Today you will be subjected to a series of tests to determine your mental health." The Director hesitated before adding "All of your teammates apart from Thor Odinson shall be at your trial tomorrow." At that Clint let out a small breath of relief; that meant that Natasha was alive. One of the doors opened and a group of physiatrists entered, covered by armed guards.

Throughout the day Clint was subjected to whatever tests they could. Doctor after doctor came in along with scientists and guards. By the end of the day Clint was given tranquilisers to sleep and he fell into a nightmare of monstrous proportions.

In his dream men with golden hats and women with red hair danced, each one dying and being revived a thousand different ways. It descended into mere colours, red and golden mixing together in a tender embrace, more and more gold lines being created and more red lines until the original lines were indistinguishable. Then blue appeared upon the horizon and every line leapt away, flowing into the blue and being consumed. Clint was left alone in darkness for the rest of the night, running from the blue but never escaping.

Clint walked into the trial room, hands chained to his sides. Around him sat other spies who he recognised, some he had trained and some had simply passed him in the corridor. He knew the names of every one of them and he had made tentative alliances with them. Now they glared down as if he was no more than a common dog. His eyes travelled to take in the Avengers, sat next to each other silent. Tony's arc reactor was gone and his eyes were red rimmed and sorrowful. Banner for once did not look anxious, he simply looked down on Clint in sorrow. Steve looked worried for his comrade but did not speak a word as Clint was marched down. However much Clint looked he could not spot the final member of the team; The Black Widow.

"Agent Clint Barton, you are brought before this council to address the charge of attempted murder against a fellow agent." Clint looked up to see Fury stood where the judge would go, he glared down at Clint as he had to and he did not let anyone see the pain he felt inside. "How do you plead?"

"Neither"

"Excuse me?"

"I am not innocent, nor am I guilty"

"Explain"

"My hands shed Natasha's blood but it was not me who did so"

"You plead insanity?"

"Yes." The trial progressed in this manner, Clint saying over and over again that he was not guilty but all the while he looked for Natasha. Witness after witness came up to the stand to argue for or against him; Doctors who looked after him, who looked after her, each one of the Avengers stating how Clint was innocent. Eventually it came to the last witness.

"I call Natasha Romanoff to the stand" Clint's head snapped up at the mention of Natasha. He watched as the crowd parted to reveal a woman with red hair and bandages swathed around her shoulder. She moved stiffly, her lithe movements were not as obvious as they had been the previous night. Clint could see how much it was costing her to simply stand upon the stand and talk.

"Clint Barton is one of the best agents that SHIELD has ever had. He spared my life once and I grew to know him far more than most spies get the chance to." At these words the agents in the room murmured agreement. Most of them would never again trust someone with their life. "I know Clint Barton and I know he would never harm me." Clint heard no more, he didn't have to. He knew that Natasha would get him off the charge. For the first time since Loki attacked Midgard Clint allowed himself to relax a tiny amount. When Natasha finished speaking she strode across the courtroom and sat down, defiantly, next to Clint. Under the table their hands entwined and she flashed him a smile.

"You know I'd never do anything like that right?"

"I trust you with my life." They grinned at each other as Fury began to speak the verdict

"Agent Clint Barton, you shall have three months of recuperation, during which time you shall have to find accommodation for yourself. After this time you may return to be reassessed to see if you are fit for duty. If you pass these tests then you shall return to SHILED in the position you hold as of now with no blemish upon your record. However you shall not be allowed into seep undercover missions for a further year after returning. Court dismissed" as one the agents filed out of the room, not responding at all. The Avengers cheered as they heard the end of the verdict. Clint and Natasha grabbed each other. The guards on either side un-cuffed him and he threw his arms around Natasha.

"I owe you my life" Natasha smiled as Clint said this

"I owed you mine first"

At this Natasha closed her lips around Clint's and in the middle of the courtroom they kissed, deeply and passionately.

"Spend it with me and I'll call it quits" the two assassins laughed at this. The blue that had chased Clint was well and truly gone, replaced with the brightness of red. They would face the world together or not at all.

* * *

_Sorry for the cheesy ending. I needed to write this because I have writers block and this came to me last night so why not? I will try to put up new stories soon but school is horrible. So, see you when I do. Or something like that..._


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